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CHANGING THE RECIPE ON HOTEL DINING restaurants’ appeal to the local public,” Sangree said. “They’re giving the developers more flexibility in developing a concept that will be popular with local diners.” The trend is notably visible in and around downtown Cleveland, thanks to a slew of new highend hotels that have either recently opened or are under development. Restaurants like Urban Farmer Cleveland at the Westin and three drinking and dining establishments at The 9, opened on Sept. 6, are as equally set on capturing the local dining community as they are hotel guests. “Because we are a chef-focused, food-focused, community-facing restaurant, we are heavily focused on the local market,” said Troy Christian, general manager of Urban Farmer. “I’d say probably 95% of our lunch customers are local, and about 75% of our dinner diners are local.” Recently, Hilton Cleveland Downtown developers announced See DINING, page 22
A CLOSER LOOK AT DOWNTOWN HOTEL DINING OPTIONS | For a look at new and recent projects, see page 22
DHANRAJ EMANUEL
URBAN FARMER AT THE UPPER UPSCALE WESTIN: A cognate of the Portland-based farm-to-table restaurant, Urban Farmer qualifies itself as Cleveland’s modern steakhouse, with a range of beef options on the menu. This Sage Restaurant Group establishment seemingly has convinced some skeptics wary of hyperbole and a non-indigenous concept that it should be a destination for local carnivores and cocktail aficionados, based on dining reviews and social media conversation. Its partnerships with farmers and purveyors, most of which are located within a 100-mile radius of Cleveland, appeal to eaters who prioritize local sourcing and quality ingredients.
But OfficeMax founder says he’s not giving up on Max-Wellness brand By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
By KATHY AMES CARR clbfreelancer@crain.com
Twenty to 30 years ago, a number of hotel brands partnered with outside restaurant operators with the hopes of appealing to both guests and the community while generating a guaranteed lease payment. But quality control was inconsistent depending on the lessee/operator, so hotels eventually brought their food and beverage operations inhouse, replacing their independent concepts with standard bistros that served predictable American fare, said David Sangree, president of Lakewood-based Hotel & Leisure Advisors, a hospitality industry consulting firm. But in recent years, hotels — particularly luxury, upper upscale and upscale brands — have realized that a sustainable option for attracting locals and out-of-town guests to their properties come in the form of one-off chefdriven concepts with painstakingly crafted menus. “The brands are becoming more interested in their
Last two of Feuer’s wellness stores close
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
LAGO, KEN STEWART’S (pictured), WILLEYVILLE, NEAR THE ALOFT HOTEL: This upscale hotel directs its hotel guests to any of the property’s three restaurants, all at the helm of native chef/owners. Lago, an upscale Italian restaurant, provides the hotel’s room service, with a service elevator from its kitchen to each of the hotel’s guest floors. Lago also is the exclusive caterer for the hotel ballroom and outside veranda venue located between the hotel and Ernst & Young building. Ken Stewart’s seafood and steak house exclusively caters the penthouse veranda on the 21st floor of the EY building. Willeyville, the third property eatery, offers modern American cuisine influenced by the seasonality of local ingredients.
Calling a retreat, OfficeMax founder Michael Feuer has closed the last large-format, brick-andmortar stores of Max-Wellness, but he’s not conceding defeat for the health and wellness retail venture. The last two Max-Wellness stores — one on Chagrin Boulevard in Woodmere Village and the other at the Promenade portion of Crocker Park in Westlake — are empty after Warrensville Heights-based Max-Wellness recently closed them. The shutdown has sparked lawsuits in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court by the landlords of the properties. The local stores were the last of four operated by Max-Wellness, which Feuer had launched in 2009 with plans to have 30 in operation within two years. Two Florida stores closed recently. Feuer is a retailing legend because of his role in creating what became the big-box office supplies concept. He started OfficeMax in his basement with a $20,000 investment that he, his partners and investors built to 938 stores before selling it in 2003 to Boise Cascade Corp. for $1.5 billion. OfficeMax’s headquarters was later moved to Chicago; it merged last November with Office Depot Inc. as the office superstore segment consolidates. Although Feuer had a convenient way to deflect blame for the closings away from retailing matters, he focused on street retail issues as the cause of the closing. He did not refer to a lawsuit Max-Wellness filed July 31 against Thomas Mack, its former chief financial officer, in county court alleging that he left unpaid an undisclosed amount of vendor bills, rents and taxes. According to the complaint, MaxWellness management discovered
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SMALL BUSINESS Entrepreneur Brian Sooy aims to give nonprofit a national reach ■ Page 15 PLUS: ADVISER ■ TAX TIPS ■ LOOKING GOOD ■ & MORE
Entire contents © 2014 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 35, No. 36